Novell might have signed a patent and interoperability deal with Microsoft Corp but it is not about to give up competing with the software giant and last week released a study that suggests its Linux desktop product is better value than Windows Vista. The company's competitive guide compares SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop with Windows Vista and claims that the Linux product provides 90% of Vista's functionality and 10% of the price.

It is also reflected by personal experience, as well as basically every sysadmin I've talked to. *nix servers are just more stable and easier to maintain.

Well, they *nix admin folk; what did you expect them to say? I know folk who have administered both and swear blind that Windows was a lot less hassle to work with. The difference is that I know that is probably based on familiarity and experience, and so won't desperately try to present it as evidence that one OS is better than another.